


Evolution

by CitrusCat



Category: Deadpool - All Media Types, Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Genus, M/M, Spider!Peter, Transformation, inhuman behavior
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-20
Updated: 2015-12-01
Packaged: 2018-05-02 11:24:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 17,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5246540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CitrusCat/pseuds/CitrusCat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Eeny, meeny, miny, moe! Catch a spider by it's toe~!” He stopped his movement and opened his eyes. “Today is your lucky day, Peter!” He took out the tube and shook it a little. “You are going to get Papa a giant pay check.” Wade purred as he eyed the little spider inside.</p><p>((Highly based and inspired by 'Genus' by Gabri:</p><p>"In which Peter is literally a spider-turned-human and Wade is along for the ride."))</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Genus](https://archiveofourown.org/works/553354) by [Gabri](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gabri/pseuds/Gabri). 



> This fic is highly based/ inspired by 'Genus' by Gabri.  
> Read it!  
> It's great, although discontinued.

“What a creep” Wade thought to himself and _that's_ gotta mean something, because normally Wade was the one creeping other's out and not vice versa. Yet here he was; standing in front of a giant freezer filled with various transparent cylinders all neatly labeled with individual names. The point was that those cylinders did not contain lunch and the names did not tell who the owner was – this wasn't some kind of shared refrigerator like in most companies this was a fricking cool box for the scientist's experiments. This creep, Richard Parker, had given every test subject it's own name – and they weren't even awesome or anything! There was no “Bea” or “Nessie” or “Batman”, no, they all had those super lame names like “Flash” or “Bob” or even “Peter” - it was ridiculous! Wade did recall reading that Parker and his wife had no children, so maybe he projected his feelings onto his experiments, which was likely, but also _incredibly creepy, god dammit_!

Then again; Wade wasn't here to psychoanalyze that guy, he was here to rob him and that was exactly what Wade did. He closed his eyes and wiggled his index finger in front of the cylinders. “Eeny, meeny, miny, moe! Catch a spider by it's toe~!” He stopped his movement and opened his eyes. “Today is your lucky day, Peter!” He took out the tube and shook it a little. “You are going to get Papa a giant pay check.” Wade purred as he eyed the little spider inside. The tiny creature was curled up on it's web, hibernating because of the cold so it was easier to experiment on – Wade guessed. He would probably have to put it into his refrigerator once he got home, but for now one of his pouches had to suffice. The cylinder was of course to big to completely fit into the bag, so half of it stack out, which wasn't a problem Wade decided. He closed the freezer and left the lab the same way he had entered it; trough the window. Normally he would simply jump out, but a squished spider wouldn't get him anything, so he had to climb down all the way, because the labs just had to be located on the upper floors of the Oscorp Tower.

On his way home Wade stopped by Sam's tacos and bought five and two burritos, so that when he came home he could celebrate his successful heist with Mexican food and cold beer. The mercenary strolled to his apartment in a pretty good mood, smiling to himself and whistling a catchy 90ties song.

When he arrived home he went to the fridge to get his beer, totally forgetting about the spider he was supposed to keep cold and immediately moved to crash on his couch and settle for a well-deserved taco-feast.

At some point he put the unwieldy glass cylinder next to him on the couch, but soon after it was tossed on the ground and rolled of, because Wade was shifting a lot while playing a video game. It wasn't until he heard an odd noise that Wade actually looked away from the screen. The mercenary was rather terrified as he couldn't find the cylinder at first, but when he jumped up he saw that it had just rolled behind the couch. “Phew! For a second I thought I just lost my one-million-dollar-spidey.” He sighed in relief and approached the cylinder to pick it up again, when he noticed that something had changed. When he had seen the spider for the first time it had been pretty tiny, by far smaller then Wade's palm, but now whatever was inside the cylinder had grown so much, that it was actually bursting the glass. As the cylinder started shaking from the increasing pressure from the inside Wade took cover behind his couch and held his ears shut until he heard the glass shattering in quite an explosion, single shards being hurled through his living room. “Holy shit, I just made a spider explode.. and it wasn't even inside the microwave..” He gasped, before carefully peering at the remains of his pay check.

What he saw made his jaw drop instantly, leaving the 'Merc with the mouth' speechless for several moments. Instead of spider-goo he saw a curled up kid, probably in it's early teens, completely naked and with the most marvelous piece of ass he had ever seen, covered in some shiny, transparent liquid and shivering slightly.

Wade blinked.

He rubbed his eyes and pinched himself. The merc was rather sure that he hadn't taken a heavy hit to the head since about two months and unless Sam's tacos contained drugs nowadays he wasn't even close to be high. So he closed his eyes and opened them again and when the boy was still lying there, looking somewhat supercooled and in pain Wade decided that his little spider had in fact turned into a human being.

He carefully approached the.. _thing_ and gently shook it's shoulder, because it seemed unconscious. It wasn't or maybe it was, it was hard to tell really, because as soon as Wade has made skin to spandex contact the kid jumped up as if struck by lightning, awkwardly stumbling away from Wade, looking at him _terrified_ and hissed at him, which was totally unfair, because Wade's mask was only rolled up to his nose.

“Erm.. okay, okay.. no touchy-touchy, got it.” Wade said confused. “So.. uh.. I'm not going to harm you, okay? I just wanted to check up on you.” He had lowered his voice to sound less intimidating to the strange creature and it seemed to work, because the boy stopped hissing and seemed to relax , lying down on the floor again as if he was to tired to hold his body up. Wade had to admit, he was pretty worried. His client had told him to get a _spider_ and now all he got was a _teen_. He sighed and started to slowly approach the kid again, which gained him some more frightful looks and deep growls. The boy didn't seem to be aggressive though, which Wade was quite thankful for – he just seemed to be as confused by the situation as Wade himself. So Wade moved closer inch by inch, gently hushing the kid. “Shh, spider-boy.. not going to harm you, just stay still.. I am just trying to help you..” The kid continued growling and his eyes were glued to Wade, those big hazel orbs staring at him nervously, but he didn't move which Wade took as a good sign, so he moved even closer until he was able to touch the kid again, carefully placing his hand on the teen's shoulder once more. The boy flinched hard at the touch, but when Wade started stroking him gently the growls eventually turned into something quite close to sobs.

They stayed like that for a few seconds, looking at each other, Wade trying hard to not further scare the confused and in fact very cold being. “Okay, okay.. good boy.. uhm.. you are Peter, right? Peter? My name is Wade. W-A-D-E.” He pointed at himself, but the human spider didn't seem to get it, so Wade sighed. “Okay, fine.. let's get you into the bathtub, how does that sound, huh?”

Again the spider did not reacted, so Wade moved even closer and tried to carefully help the kid on his feet. This turned out to be a mistake, because instantly the boy started hissing at him again, struggling to get away from the merc. Peter didn't seem to be comfortable with the concept of walking on two legs either so Wade had no choice but to actually pick him up, carrying him to the small bathroom himself. At this the former spider was so shocked that it actually bit Wade in the neck. The merc cursed and tossed the boy inside the bathroom, where he instantly crawled to the next corner. Wade rubbed his neck and closed the door so he wouldn't have to drag Peter in again, then he started to let water into the tub.

As he waited for the tub to fill, he sat down on the edge of it to watch the feral child. Peter was still looking at him in terror, pressing his body against the wall. The merc felt oddly dizzy and when he stood up to get Peter into the tub he felt a sharp pain in his head. So obviously spider-boy does not only have fucking _fangs_ , no he was also _venomous_ , great, just _great_.

Wade who was at the end of his patience grabbed the boy by his arm and dragged him over to the bathtub. Peter struggled to get away, but seemed to be to tired to really put up a fight with Wade, but when he noticed the water he started to panic and Wade had to force him into the water with all his might. By the time the kid was sitting in the tub both of them were panting, though Peter seemed to actually like the warm place he ended up in and soon relaxed, whereas Wade was cursing at his new acquaintance until the poison knocked him out for good.


	2. Chapter 2

When Wade finally woke up the first thing he noticed was that spider-boy was gone. Immediately the merc was on his feet to search the cold water for any sign of the arachnid. For a moment Wade feared that the kid had turned into a spider again and drowned while he had been sleeping, which would have been really awkward, because how was he supposed to explain that to his client. 'Oh yeah, I got your spider, but I felt like it could use a bath and accidentally drowned it, whoopsie-daisy!' So when there was no trace of a spider.. or kid to be found he left the bathroom for further investigation and for breakfast, because that damn venom had _drained_ him.

Upon seeing the mess that was now his living room Wade realized that a dead spider would have been so much better then _this_.

The whole left-hand corner of the room had been seized by the odd creature and was pretty much a giant web now. Attached to the walls, right in the middle of it all there was a big orb-like cocoon big enough for the kid to hide in, but in front of this construction was a circular web that was probably supposed to catch giant flies and that also served to protect the inner lair.

Wade rubbed his forehead and couldn't really believe what he saw. He carefully touched one of the sticky threads only to find out that they were in fact so sticky that getting that stuff off of his hand almost ripped off some skin as well. He looked up to the web-orb again. “Peter? You're inside that thing? Because, you know.. you just could have _asked_ and I would have let you sleep on the couch or something.. damn.. how the hell are you even..” He cursed under his breath, but the kid did not show itself. “Okay, okay.. fine.. just.. stay in there and I will make some pancakes.”

While doing exactly that Wade wondered how he was supposed to get the webs off, when the web-head was gone. He fantasized about acid and flamethrowers until a giant stack of pancakes was ready to be eaten. He took the plate and headed for the living room, positioning himself a few feet away from the web. The merc started to eat, paying attention to every movement or sound originating from the spider's lair, while he ate noisily. After about three pancakes he heard a very faint growl from the web and after pancake number seven Peter finally took a peek at him, slightly crawling out of his nest on hand and feet. Wade took a pancake and waggled it around, which made the spider's stomach growl longingly. The scarred man grinned and tossed the pancake at the web, missing the boy quite a bit, but Peter just shoot out a thread of web out of his wrist, caught the pancake in the air and studied it carefully before finally digging in. Wade got to admit that he was rather amazed about the boy's abilities, but he did not throw another pancake. Of course the boy was still hungry, his stomach demanding more of Wade's delicious pancakes, but the merc just sat there, eating them on his own. Peter observed him very carefully and after a few minutes of staring the boy finally started moving towards Wade. It looked pretty eerie like the kid crawled closer on all fours, still obviously missing the eight legs he had before. When he was close enough, Wade held out a pancake for him, but instead of taking it the spider-boy simply bit a piece off. He scuttled away after he did so, but soon came back to take another bite, eyes always glued onto Wade. At some point Peter sat down in front of Wade and the merc taught him to actually use his hands to eat. When they were finished, Wade decided that he should try the name-thingy once more. He pointed at the boy. “Peter.” He explained. “'Peter' is your name. N-A-M-E. Try to say it: P-E-T-E-R.” But Peter just blinked, totally oblivious to Wade's efforts into teaching him the human language. “My name is Wade. W-A-D-E. Okay? Peter..” He pointed at the boy.

“Wade.” He pointed at himself.

“Peter.”

“Wade.”

“Peter.”

“..vvVeyTh..” The boy hissed. Wade's eyes widened as he nodded. “Well.. close enough.” He admitted. Then all of a sudden he felt a blush crawling up his cheeks as it occurred to him that the first conscious word that odd creature in front of him had said was _his_ name. “..pi-thar..” It continued. Wade nodded again and rubbed his neck as he got up to go inside his bedroom, the sounds of Peter's babbling continuing in the background.

He went to his wardrobe, picking up some clothes, because even though the boy was quite good looking it was pretty weird to have him move around his apartment completely naked all the time, damn that kid would probably catch a cold soon and then Wade would have to nurse him and that was definitely nothing he wanted to do. Ever. Like, he still hated that guy for biting him and ruining his living room with his damn webs.

When he came back into the living room he was greeted with a cheerful “Wade!” , that almost made him go all sentimental, but he was quick to shake of that feeling. Peter was something like a hostage after all. He had stolen him and he would sell him – so Wade was better off without any emotional bond.

He showed the clothes to the boy, that picked up a hoodie to examine it, biting it in the process. “These are C-L-O-T-H-E-S. You wear them, because.. that's what people do.” Wade tried to explain, showing off his spandex suit he still wore. Peter seemed interested, but he started to fight back when Wade tried to help him into the hoodie. It took Wade quite some effort, but in the end Peter was fully dressed in his clothes, that were way to wide and baggy on his small frame. Wade was satisfied with the result, but Peter himself seemed to feel uncomfortable, constantly rubbing and pulling at the fabric.

Wade picked up the plates he had left on the floor to bring them into the kitchen and hesitated for a moment, before pulling out his mobile to call his client. He had to wait a little, before someone picked up, the voice of a man answering the call.

“Deadpool?”

“The one and only!”

“Do you have the spider?”

“Erm.. well that's .. quite _complicated_?”

“Listen, Deadpool: No spider, no money. If you can't get the job done, someone else will do it so don't waste my time!”

There was a short pause before his client hung up. Wade bit his lip. Of course he could have told them that he had the spider, that it had just altered it's shape a little – it's DNA was probably still useful, they would run a few test on the boy and would be happy to pay the merc. Right?

But somehow that would feel like betraying the kid. He had been a tiny, little spider minding it's own business, bred and used as a lab rat, but now he was _human_ – to some extent. Wade knew how cruel scientists could be to their precious experiments and somehow he just hadn't the heart to force that kind of life onto that innocent boy, that hadn't done anything wrong. The man took in a sharp breath, trying to calm himself.

He took of his mask that he had been wearing all the time and went back to Peter, who was currently examining the remote control, pushing the colorful buttons randomly. The boy flinched away as the TV went on, but as he saw the moving pictures he stared at them fascinated. “Wait until you see 'Golden Girls'” Wade said to gain Peter's attention. The boy looked at him curiously, tilting his head a little. “Wade?..” He asked as if he wasn't sure if the face beneath the mask was related to the merc he had met.

“Yes, Peter it's me.. you don't mind it?” Wade asked with a grin the boy just looking at him curiously – no fear, no disgust. Wade nodded. “How about staying with me for now?” Peter just blinked. Wade took that as a 'yes'.”


	3. Chapter 3

The next thing on Wade's agenda was to potty-train his new roommate. It sounded pretty gross, even to him, but there was no way around it. So he took away the remote from Peter and turned off the TV. The teen looked at him totally baffled as if Wade was some kind of magician, making the merc grin. “Come spider-boy, I got to show you something.” Wade went into the bathroom, indicating Peter to follow him inside, which the boy did – now going on two legs, even though the movement still seemed rather stiff and uncomfortable.

They stood in front of the toilet and Wade opened the lid. “Okay, so.. if you feel the urge to, you know – pee or take a shit do it here, okay? Into that bowl. Understood?” The merc looked at his apprentice expectantly, but Peter just seemed to wonder why Wade had turned off the TV only to show him a porcelain bowl full of water. Wade sighed. “Do spiders even have to poo? I've never seen one do it..” Wade wondered, but he shook his head – he had to concentrate! And so he decided to 'demonstrate' Peter what he meant. He sat down on the toilet and started making farting noises. Peter looked at him so incredibly irritated that it made Wade laugh out loud, which confused the former spider even more.

After Wade was able to breathe regularly again he stood up. “I have the feeling you don't get it, baby boy.” He exclaimed. “How about we do it together?” So with a little bit of hesitation Wade pulled down his pants and briefs signaling the confused teen to do the same. What followed was a bromantical session of peeing together.

Afterwards Wade showed Peter the wonders of toilet paper and soap and when they left the bathroom Wade ruffled through the boys hair to show how proud he was of his little disciple. “So.. what do you need to learn now..” Wade wondered, trying to come up with anything basic Peter had to learn about human life. “Ah, yes of course!” He gasped. “The Golden Girls!” Wade hurried to his massive DVD-collection grabbing his GG Deluxe DVD Box showing it to Peter who looked at it curiously. “Trust me, boy – you're going to love it!” He went to his TV to insert the disc into the DVD-player and gestured Peter to sit down on the couch, which the obedient spider did.

Since no Golden Girls marathon would be complete without some popcorn and cold drinks Wade left for the kitchen, preparing the snack in the microwave and grabbing something to drink. The merc noticed that his fridge was almost empty, storing almost nothing but a few cans of beer and some rather old ready-made meals. Wade had no clue what teens were supposed to eat, but he was pretty sure that beer wasn't on that list. “So I guess I need to do some grocery shopping.. and while I'm at it I could buy some clothes for him..” The merc murmured to himself. “Wonder if the boy ever saw anything outside that Oscorp lab actually..” The thought made him feel melancholic for some reason.

“Hey Peter, I'm going to fetch you a soda or something, all right?” He asked, while walking back into the living room, where Peter was currently studying one of Wade's many guns that were scattered around the whole apartment, curiously looking into the muzzle while his hands were definitely way too close to the trigger. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! Peter, no! Bad boy! Let it go!” The merc shouted, while running up to the boy, grabbing and trying to pull away the gun hastily. Peter flinched hard and in his panic pulled the trigger accidentally. The loud noise made him jump up, while Wade sank to his knees rubbing the already healing hole the bullet had torn trough his heart. “Could be worse, though..” He said to himself and looked up to where Peter was stuck to the ceiling, looking down at the merc _terrified_. Wade looked at his wound and the blood he had lost and stood up, trying to show the boy that he was actually alright. “Hey, hey.. it's alright, see? I'm perfectly fine.” He said cheerfully, reaching out for the boy. “Now come back down, huh?” But Peter did not, instead he hurried to crawl back into his little web-orb, where he felt safer. It made Wade's guts turn to see the boy distancing himself from the merc again, but at least it was only due to the loud sound of the gun being fired. Wade looked around the room, noticing all those potentially dangerous things carelessly lying around and started to pick them up immediately. Hell, he hadn't even picked up all those shards of glass that once made up Peter's cage – the kid could have cut himself easily! So Wade actually cleaned up his whole apartment and when it was as good as new and every weapon was locked away neatly the flat was basically feral-child-proved, which the merc was quite proud of.

He went to tell Peter, who hadn't showed himself all the time, trying to take a peek into his little lair. “You can come out now, Pete – I took away the guns, no more 'big ba-da boom!' for now.” He laughed, but Peter did not react, which caused a frown to appear on the merc's face. “Aw, come on spider-boy, getting shot happens to me on a daily basis, no need to blame yourself for it.” He continued talking for a while, until he was sure that Peter had enough of being human for today and just let him be. He took the already cold popcorn and a beer and settled on the couch alone, starting to watch the Golden Girls on his own.

It was an odd feeling though. He had always watched stuff on his own, all by himself, but now that someone was actually inside the room with him he felt somewhat forlorn on his big couch, even if he was sprawled out on it like usual. What was even more irritating was the fact, that for some reason his favorite show did not catch his attention as it used to do, because every three minutes he looked over his shoulder to check if Peter had moved out of his web now, it was weird.

Suddenly in the middle of his marathon he heard a faint “ _thwip_ ”. Wade instantly turned his head to look at the web, but nothing had changed, making him sigh. When he looked down into his bowl of popcorn however, he heard the sound again and saw a thin thread of silk being shot at his popcorn at the same time. The thread was quickly drawn back and Wade followed it with his eyes until he saw none other, but spider-boy himself, stuck to the ceiling with his feet, eating his snack. Wade grinned wide. “Ahh, I knew you couldn't resist the charm of one Bea Arthur, Spidey!”


	4. Chapter 4

The next day Wade decided that it was time to show Peter the outside world. So after they ate breakfast the merc stopped the former spider as it tried to hide away in it's nest again and pointed at the apartment door. “We'll go out, it'll be fun.” He said. “Out?” Peter repeated confused. Wade nodded. He had noticed that the teen had started to understand more and more he said, it was probably because Wade was talking _all the time_ and so it was easier for the spider to adept, even if Peter himself wouldn't speak in full sentences yet. The merc was pretty sure that the creature in front of him was incredibly intelligent, which only encouraged him to treat it like a normal human. “But when we leave the apartment you are not allowed to crawl on the walls and no 'thwip thwip' either, okay?” Peter nodded cautiously. “Great!” And so they left the apartment, going through the only door Peter hadn't been allowed to open yet and the merc felt the excitement the boy felt as they walked down the stairs to the ground floor.

Wade stopped in front of the front door, looking at Peter with a grin. “You ready?” Peter nodded, but when Wade pushed the door open the boy seemed everything but pleased. The loud noises of a busy street and the smell of the city obviously scared the poor thing and so Wade closed the door again to put his hand on Peter's shoulder, who looked at him with big brown eyes full of fear. “Hey, it's okay, baby boy.” Wade cooed softly. “I'll protect you.” He helped Peter to pull on the hood of his sweater and patted his back, smiling encouragingly. He was actually quite nervous himself, because he wasn't in his Deadpool outfit, which meant no mask, but the spandex suit was just a lot more flashy then a hoodie and a base cap. The thing is, if _Deadpool_ would be seen with some kid around the block, people might start to ask questions. The Avengers and/or S.H.I.E.L.D would knock on his door and ask him who the hell he was corrupting this time and then they might try to take Peter away from him like some kind of youth welfare office only to put him into Xavier's school, or one of their labs or generally somewhere far away from Wade were the boy would be frightened and confused and helpless and that was something Wade would not allow to happen.

They left the apartment complex, but after a few steps Peter started to look around rather nervously and in the end he grabbed Wade's arm for a minimum feeling of security. It actually surprised Wade, because Peter never seemed to be a clingy one, which was quite understandable, because spiders weren't known for loving to cuddle. Now in this new environment however Wade was the only thing Peter knew and Wade caught himself thinking that he should show Peter new places more often.

Together they entered the grocery store and the enclosed space made Peter relax a little again. Wade took a shopping cart and guided his roommate through the various aisles always showing him what he bought, explaining what it was called or used for and Peter listened curiously, nodding from time to time. At some point however Peter saw a woman pushing a cart with a kid sitting inside and was instantly tempted to try this out himself. “Whoa, Peter – what are you doing there?” Wade gasped, but he couldn't stop the boy climbing into the cart and taking a seat. Peter looked at him all innocently and so Wade gave up with a sigh. “Fine, but you're not going to call me “Mama” anytime soon, got it?” “Wade!” The teen interjected. “Yes, yes, you are right; my name is Wade. Good thing you still remember.” Wade rolled his eyes, but he noticed something pretty close to a smile appear on Peter's face. It seemed awkward and looked a little creepy, more like a grimace then a smile actually and his fangs didn't make it better, but Wade took what he got and smiled back. Of course there were a lot of people looking at them, sometimes even starting to whisper, but it didn't seem as oppressive as usual to Wade. Somehow with Peter by his side everyone else didn't seem to matter anymore, which was quite refreshing. It felt good, really. And it made their little shopping tour so much more enjoyable.

In the end Peter had to climb out of the cart again, because there were so many things Wade wanted to show to him once they got home, that there wasn't any room left for the scrawny kid.

They left the store with two big, jam-full bags. Wade was going to carry them both, but Peter, who already started to form something like a sense of justice soon wanted to carry one of the bags himself. The merc was a little worried at first, since the bag was _really_ heavy and the kid's arms not very muscular, but Peter handled it just fine, not even struggling with the weight as if he was carrying around a pillow, which probably was due to another spider-ability or whatever.

It didn't really matter and so they continued by going into the next store, where Wade would buy him some clothes that would actually fit him. Wade even thought about buying Peter a dress – just to mess with his sense of gender identity, which probably would have been incredibly hilarious, but he soon decided that the kid already had enough to worry about regarding human behavior and so he guided him to the men section. Peter seemed almost bored and every few seconds he sniffed warily. He still couldn't really wrap his head around this whole “wearing clothes”-thing, even though he seemed to appreciate the warmth it brought with it.

“Hello, may I assist you?”

The sudden voice of a shop assistant made Peter jump up a little and as he turned to see her he started hissing at her threateningly. The young woman went pale and excused herself quickly, before hurrying away, which made Wade chuckle. “You know, you could have simply said “no”.” He told him smiling, wagging his index finger in front of Peter's face. “ _Sowwy.._ ” He mumbled with the slightest bit of remorse, which awoke the urge to hug the boy inside of Wade, but he just coughed a little and nodded. “Good boy.”

After about an hour or so they had two more bags full of clothes. It was Wade who had picked the most of them, because most of the time Peter just hadn't cared at all, but at least he hadn't been picky.

On their way home however they came across an electronics shop and the various devices in the display caught Peter's attention almost immediately. The boy soon tugged at Wade's sleeve to get his attention. Wade just nodded, he knew that technology was one of the things Peter was highly interested in, even though or maybe _because_ he didn't understand it one bit.

So they entered the store and soon Peter was the one leading Wade from showcase to showcase always pushing every button there was available, getting fascinated by fans and lava lamps and toasters, which Wade found to be incredibly adorable. He was almost on the verge of buying the whole damn store for Peter, when one object in particular seemed to catch the boys attention. It was a digital single lens reflex camera and Peter turned it in his hands as if it was some ancient object of worship. “Oh, you are going to like this one!” Wade exclaimed, showing Peter the shutter button. The sudden flash made him flinch in fear, but when Wade showed him the photo of them on the digital display he couldn't believe his eyes. He looked at Wade wide eyed, jaw dropped, then at the picture and back at Wade again, making the merc laugh. “Come on, try it out a little.” And that was exactly what the boy did. He began taking photos of nearly anything and while the first one's were a little blurred he soon got better at it. Since Peter wasn't going to let go of the camera anytime soon, Wade bought it for him and led him out the store.

“How 'bout some Hotdogs?” Wade asked, when they got out, but Peter was to busy looking at the world around him through the lens of his camera, taking photos of the most mousy things. Wade ruffled the boys hair and bought something to eat at a nearby hotdog-stand.

Back at home well-fed and satisfied Peter sat down on the couch to look through all the pictures he had already taken, while Wade put away the things they bought, humming to himself. By the time he joined Peter on the couch, the boy was already asleep. It wasn't that late, but Wade had learned that Peter liked to take a few naps throughout the day, especially after eating something. He smiled and covered him with a blanket. It was the first time he wasn't sleeping inside his little web though. Wade took a peek at the last photo that Peter had looked at before dozing off and blushed slightly when he saw that it was a picture showing him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wanted to say "thank you" to everyone reading or leaving comments and kudos.  
> Seeing how many people enjoy this story makes me really happy!   
> ♡(.◜ω◝.)♡
> 
> \- CC


	5. Chapter 5

Wade woke up with a funny taste in his mouth. He smacked his lips, but it wouldn't go away so he got up to slouch to the bathroom. It was still dark outside so spider-boy was still sleeping inside his little lair. The teen had a quite deep sleep so the merc hadn't to worry about waking him up. The bathroom itself was so dark that Wade couldn't make out a single thing. He closed his eyes before turning on the lights. He put his hands on the sink to support himself and washed his face with another one.

The merc opened his eyes immediately, looking into the mirror in front of him in shock. All of a sudden he had _six fricking arms_.

Wade started to scream only to wake up on his couch. Still confused he looked around. Everything seemed normal; no additional limps, giant spider-web still in place, Peter sitting in front of the couch reading one of Wade's porn magazines.

Wait. What?

“Peter.. what are you doing there?” The merc asked groggily. “I.. read.” The teen stated seriously. “Oh, please – that's why you're holding it upside down?” Wade rolled his eyes and got up, looking around for more appropriate reading matter. “Oh..” Peter said disappointed, turning the magazine around instantly looking at it with full concentration.

A little later Wade took it away from Peter who growled in frustration, but the merc handed him one of his Captain America Comics. “Read that instead.” Peter seemed curious and the various colorful images seemed to fascinate him, but the way he looked he wasn't able to understand one bit. So Wade sat down next to him, reading out loud. He spoke more slowly then he used to so Peter had enough time to understand everything. At some point however the former spider started to point at letters or smaller phrases, wanting to know what they meant and so Wade ended up teaching him to read with the help of Americas most favorite super-soldier. By the end of issue three Peter was able to understand pretty much everything, except maybe for words he hadn't heard before. They spend the rest of the day sitting on the floor, reading Wade's Comics only taking small breaks in between and it was really hard to tell who had more fun.

 

A few days later, when they had finished Wade's massive Comic collection Peter started to read them all over again and because Wade did not want his roommate to lose interest in his new hobby he started to take him to the library, where Peter could lend out any book that caught his attention. At first he only picked books for children, but after Wade had shown him some classics like 'Alice in Wonderland' and the 'Wizard of Oz' simple stories with colorful images became uninteresting. So he soon switched to the likes of 'Anna Kerenina' and 'Pride an Prejudice' . He finished 'The Lord of the Rings' in two days and basically _inhaled_ every book he would get in his hands. He was so fascinated by them that it soon became the only thing he did most of the day – he even stopped taking naps and settled for a normal day-and-night-rythm only to avoid taking too many breaks while reading. Wade was a little worried at first, but in the end reading was better then just sitting around doing nothing all day long. He took him out for the occasional walk of course and sometimes they would spend hours exploring the city, taking tons of photos, but they couldn't do it all day long. Peter reading was also one of the most beautiful things Wade had ever seen. He would narrow his eyes ever so slightly, moving his lips while reading in silence, completely oblivious to his surroundings. Usually they would sit on the couch together, Peter lost in his books and Wade watching some cartoons, but sometimes Wade just stared at his roommate for an undefined amount of time admiring the sight.

It didn't take long and Peter started reading books about quantum mechanics and speculative metaphysics. Hell Wade didn't even understand the titles of a few of them, while he was a hundred percent positive that Peter knew exactly what was going on, even if he couldn't speak in coherent sentences yet. He was a _genius_ ; Tony-Stark-level-genius and that was simply astonishing.

It made Wade wonder what Peter would be able to do, if he had the possibilities. He would probably cure cancer and acne and he would build all kinds of fancy devices. Some of his imaginations however frightened Wade. What if Peter would become like the scientists that actually made him? What if he would use his brain and all of his spider-powers for doing bad? What if he would look at Wade one day, seeing in him not a friend, but a lab rat he could experiment on?

So he asked Peter.

“Hey, Pete. Say, if you would ever become a big bad scientist, would we be partners or would you turn on me, making me one of your experiments?” Wade joked nervously. The boy looked up, obviously irritated by what Wade had said. Peter probably had an incredible intelligent and philosophical answer in mind, but since using vocal chords was still difficult for him he answered in a more simple way.

“We.. partners. Like Batman and Robin. Cap.. and Buck.”

“Like Bonny and Clyde?” Wade asked hopefully.

Peter nodded in agreement.

“Romeo and Juliet?”

Peter looked at him in confusion.

“Ugh.. Romeo and Benvolio?” Wade tried again.

The teen nodded.

"Well, that's good enough I guess."


	6. Chapter 6

“Where to?” Peter asked for the umpteenth time, making Wade smile. “I told you that it's supposed to be a surprise.” He told him once more. Peter pouted, wiggling in his seat nervously. It wasn't because he felt uneasy though, no, Peter loved their little trips, especially when Wade drove them to wherever he wanted to take him. The possibility of seeing and learning something new just excited the hell out of the boy. The first few times Wade had tried to calm him down by talking to him or playing music, but whenever he turned a corner to someplace Peter hadn't seen before the teen would jump up in his seat staring and pointing at basically everything he saw outside. Some might find it annoying, but for Wade it was really refreshing – Peter was fascinated by the most trivial things, he just was some kind of embodiment of life and joy and happiness and the best part about it was that it was contagious. Wade hadn't felt so leveled since ages and right now he was enjoying his life, he was happy and he hadn't even killed anyone since he had 'adopted' Peter. It was a new experience, but it was good. It felt right.

 

This time however Wade had outdone himself. Peter was _thrilled_. Sure, watching a 3D movie at a cinema was great but this? _This_ was the best fricking idea Wade had ever had. At first Peter had been a little nervous, because of the large amount of people crowded at the entrance, but as soon as he had seen the first enclosure he let go of Wade's arm to get a better view of the animal within. He was still standing there, staring at the Gorilla that was sitting on a patch of grass intensely. “Remember, Peter – that is no pray.” Wade chuckled. “But why don't you take a picture of it?” Peter looked at him startled for a second before fidgeting with the camera hanging around his neck. He was so excited that his hands were trembling, but he tried to snap a nice shot nonetheless. While looking through the lens however he suddenly gasped in awe, lowering the camera again to see with his own eyes. “What? What is there?” Wade asked smiling, trying to make out what Peter might have seen. Peter pointed at the somewhat hidden horse-like animal wriggly. “Ah, yeah! That's an Okapi. It's also called the 'unicorn of Africa' sometimes.” “ _Unicorn?!_ ” Peter gasped once again. Wade nodded, informing Peter about some other things about the animal he had researched beforehand. Sure Peter could have just read all that on those fancy information signs, but Wade wanted to tell him all those things, he _wanted_ to be a part of Peter's experience. In addition to that Peter was a very good listener. He would look at Wade almost as if in disbelief, absorbing every single word that left his mouth.

 

That was how they had spend most of the day; Peter reacting to every new animal with a gasp (Wade had made a joke at some point, that if Peter continued gasping like that he would surely lose consciousness and Wade would then have to provide mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Not that Wade would mind..) and Wade telling him everything he knew about it. The Bronx Zoo was way too big to explore in one single swoop, especially when going so slow like the both of them. So after discovering lions, wild dogs, zebras, giraffes, aardvarks, baboons and whatnot Wade led Peter to the Children's Zoo, to top it all off.

The area looked a little bit like a barn, but people could enter the exhibit to pet the animals. There were goats and alpacas and all those other harmless but fluffy animals a kid would want to cuddle with. At first Peter seemed to be confused that he was allowed to be _that_ close to the animals, but Wade just gave him some fodder he had bought. When a group of animals noticed the food, Peter found himself surrounded by them and although he still seemed irritated he soon started to like his new position, kindly asking Wade for more food to feed them.

In the end they spend almost an hour at the petting zoo. Peter took a special liking in a big, gentle roe deer. Petting and hugging her with utmost care, sometimes burring his face in her soft fur. “Well you do look a lot alike.” Wade had admitted after taking another photo of the pair. Peter just looked at him surprised, probably wondering what the merc had meant.

After Peter said his goodbyes to all those new friends he had found they strolled into one of the animal houses. Inside it the light was dimmed to fit the more nocturnal creatures living inside. There were various reptiles, snakes and in one terrarium there even were spiders. When Peter saw them he instantly went silent. Wade tried to distract him, but Peter wouldn't respond he just stood there in front of the glass staring at one of the spiders intensely. It made Wade wonder, if Peter actually wanted to go back to his spider-existence. He had never thought of it, of the possibility of Peter turning back into a spider, yet alone that Peter actually might _wanted_ to.

The thought scared Wade, but it also made him sad. Hadn't he himself tried to show Peter all the joy the human life could bring?

“Hey, Peter.. do you.. do you want to be a spider again?” He whispered concerned, standing right behind him. The boy didn't look up and when Wade already thought he wouldn't answer he did.

“I.. _am_ spider.” He said softly, looking up to Wade with his big, brown doe-eyes. The merc put his arms around the teen, pulling him into a gentle hug. “Nah, Peter.. you are so much more then that..”

 

So yeah, the whole spider-thing totally ruined the mood. Instead of being all wriggly and happy and excited Peter was absentminded and silent for the rest of their trip. Even the various soft toys in one of the souvenir shops couldn't change that and Wade's jokes and general silliness only earned tired smiles if any. He had almost given up, when he spotted a familiar figure sitting outside the 'Dancing Crane Café'.

“Do you recognize that guy?” Wade asked him quietly, nodding towards the man that was looking at a map of the zoo. Peter shook his head. “What?” Wade exclaimed shocked. “But that is him! Captain America! Steve Rogers himself!” He looked at Peter who seemed to finally recognize his favorite superhero. The boy looked at Wade wide-eyed. “Really?” He gasped. “Yeah, go and ask him if you're allowed to take a photo.” “..Alone?” “It's okay, just ask nicely.” Wade gave the boy a little push into the right direction and so Peter started to approach Steve slowly and nervously. From were he stood Wade couldn't hear what they were talking about, but it seemed as if Peter tried really hard to speak in whole sentences, making him stutter and blush adorably. Steve himself was as kind as always, but he too looked a little bit embarrassed, not feeling all too comfortable around 'fans', but the way he smiled he seemed to be blown away by the sheer amount of cuteness he saw in front of him. No one could blame him for that, though.

After Peter took a photo they exchanged a few more words, before Peter came back to Wade grinning like a Cheshire Cat. The merc ruffled the boys hair. “So?” Wade asked. “How did the photo turn out?” He half assumed that it was a blurred mess, because Peter couldn't handle his excitement, but when Peter showed him the actual picture on the digital display Wade was quite baffled. Sure Cap was quite good looking, but the photo looked as if taken professionally. Wade whistled in approval, while leading Peter out of the zoo.


	7. Chapter 7

Wade looked around and was pleased by what he saw. He was at the seaside, the ocean waves glittering in the sunlight, a beautiful white beach sprawled out beneath his bare feet and – most importantly – not a single soul to look at his scarred skin. It wasn't a surprise though. He had rented the whole private beach previously, including a cozy but also luxuriously cabana where he and Peter would stay for the weekend.

Speaking of which, what made Peter to take that long?

Wade turned around to look at the cabana, where the teen was awkwardly standing in the entrance somewhat hiding behind the doorway. It made Wade chuckle. “I thought you would enjoy not wearing as much as usual?” He teased, because hell of course he had bought him some brief, tight trunks – there was just no way in hell, that he would hide that perfect piece of ass in some bermuda shorts. The boy just looked around nervously and stepped out into the sunlight slowly. Wade took in a deep breath while admiring every little detail about the boys body, relieved that he himself got some wide shorts to conceal himself. Some might argue that Wade was a total pervert and pedophile, but to his defense he had to say that Peter a. was a mature spider and b. since the last time Wade had seen him naked he had turned from looking like a 15-year-old into looking like 17 or even 18ish. He hadn't really _grown_ , but the muscles that loomed beneath his pale skin had become more defined. It was really hard to put his finger on the exact reason, but everyone who had seen Peter then and now would know what the merc meant. The boy still looked quite scrawny though, even though he ate _a lot_. It seemed to be fine, Wade guessed after all he hadn't looked quite bulky while being a spider either; just some metabolism-thing.

“It's.. not that..” Peter mumbled, biting his lip while his eyes darted around the beach nervously.

“What is it then, baby boy?” The merc asked a little surprised.

“The.. the..” Peter fidgeted around. “The.. _sky_.” He finally said with a frown.

Wade arched up an eyebrow, looking up into the sky that was cloudless and blue and perfect. “What is with it?”

“It is so.. _close_.” He whined.

Wade actually chuckled at that, even though he knew that Peter disliked it when he laughed about something dorky he had said or done. The boy pouted in an offended matter, but Wade just ruffled his hair and smiled at him encouragingly. “No worries, It's not going to fall down anytime soon.” The boy shot him a shy smile at that. “Come, I already spread out our towels, we should get some sunscreen on your skin or you're going to get a sunburn.”

Without really thinking about it too much Wade took Peter's hand to lead him. The boy seemed startled for a second, but he soon took hold of Wade's hand as well. It actually was their first time holding hands, sure Peter got somewhat clingy whenever they left the apartment, but he would always grab Wade's _upper arm_ , maybe his instincts telling him that it was like a big branch or something – who knows?

They sat down on the towels and Wade took out the sunscreen from a picnic basket that was filled with some snacks and drinks and stuff like that to apply plenty of the cream on his hands. Again; people might phrase him a pervert, but seriously Peter was pretty pale and without proper protection his perfect skin would just burn away! Wade was just acting responsible and caring! And he was getting to touch Peter, but that was just some kind of an extra, _really_..

Since Peter wouldn't know how to put the lotion on aright Wade would have to do it all on his own. The merc decided to start at the teen's hands. He gently grabbed them, carefully caressing each of the slim, delicate fingers one by one. Wade wondered if Peter would make a good piano player, before continuing to rub in his arms. As he stroke the silky, flawless skin of the former spider he felt shivers run down his spine. Other then him Peter was _perfect_ and it wasn't _only_ his body. The boy was so beautiful both from the outside and the inside that it caused Wade's breathing to go a little bumpy. As he continued to caress the boy's skin he couldn't think of anything else, but about how wonderful Peter was in every single way possible and how lucky he was that he was _the only one_ to be so close to him.

“Okay..” He whispered when he was finished, already mourning the loss of the skin to skin contact. He turned to rub in himself, but Peter stopped him.

“My turn.” He simply said and before Wade could understand what he had meant, Peter already took his hand to put on the sunscreen on Wade's skin.

The merc flinched a little and had to fight back the urge to scream, to shout at Peter, because what was he even _thinking_ , touching his scarred, ugly skin with those perfect hands of his. He was so gentle though, so careful it made Wade's heart ache. Not being disgusted by his appearance was one thing, but touching him voluntarily was a whole different story. Seriously, if he hadn't been so afraid of the possible consequences he would have kissed Peter right there, but he was and so he stayed frozen until the teen declared that he was finished and Wade had to take a few deep breaths to calm himself.

“So, uh.. how about swimming now?..” He suggested sheepishly.

 

“Ow, come on, Peter! There are spiders _living_ underwater, I know you can do it!” Wade cheered, quite amused. While he was standing in the water already, the waves curling around his hips, Peter hadn't even wet his feet. The thing was, that Peter never had been all too fond of water, especially when it came in bigger dimensions. Wade remembered their first night, when he had to force the boy into the bathtub and chuckled a little, good ol' times. Peter soon learned to love a nice, warm bath, but cold water was still a no-go and even though the water temperature wasn't that low Peter had his claims. So when the boy finally tested the water he just flinched and started to shake his head fiercely. Wade sighed, giving in to the boys will and getting out of the water. “Fine, let's build a sandcastle then.” He exclaimed, earning him a curious gaze.

He led the boy a little further away from the water and sat down with him to plan the most awesome sandcastle Long Island had ever seen. At first Peter just watched and listened to Wade's explanations, that the sand had to be a little damp, but not to much and how to form walls and towers, but soon he started to participate. As it turned out Peter was a born sandcastle-constructor, but when it came to the details, carved in windows and moldings Wade was the best. They made an awesome team and when they were finished they were full of sand, but proud as hell. Peter even went to take his camera, recording the moment for future generations.

“Phew.. I guess I'm going to cool down in the water now, mind to join me now, Peter?” The boy shook his head again and Wade shrugged grinning, before jogging towards the ocean, jumping into the water. He made sure Peter could hear just how great he felt and how much fun he had and soon his little plan worked out; Peter approached the water once again. He stood there, watching Wade for a little before taking the first few cautious steps. Wade waited until he had acclimatized to the water temperature and soon Peter joined him in the deeper water. “Good boy, you want me to teach you how to swim?” The teen nodded a little shyly.

The first thing Wade did was to show Peter how he had to move his arms, then he took his hands, leading him into deeper water so he could try to paddle with his legs. It looked really dorky at first but he soon started to get the hang out of it so Wade let one of Peter's hands go and in the end they were only holding each other with their pinkies. “Okay, now let go.” Wade instructed, but suddenly Peter looked shocked. “No.” He exclaimed. “It's fine, just let go – you can do it.” “No!” The boy begged. “No need to be afraid, baby boy – I'm still here.” He cooed gently while slowly letting go. Instantly Peter rushed forward desperately trying to get a hold on Wade again. The merc was surprised as the teen flung his arms around him, clinging to him even though he would have been able to swim on his own. Wade patted the boy's head. “It's okay, it's okay.. I got you..” But Peter refused to let go of Wade and so they would spend the rest of their time in the water entangled, pressing themselves against the other one.

 

When it started to get dark they went out of the water, Wade having to carry Peter, who was still holding onto him with a vice like grip. They entered the cabana and grabbed some fresh towels to dry themselves, before Wade made dinner. After they had finished up Peter got up to go into his room. “Errm, Peter? You can't really .. uh.. you know.. build your net in here. You have to sleep on the bed..” Peter looked at him totally confused. “But..” He tried. “Sorry, buddy, but these webs are just too strong, they would have to bomb away the whole house.” Peter frowned, but he seemed to understand, which Wade was incredibly thankful for. “I can even help you get comfy, hm? How does that sound?” Peter nodded slightly, obviously upset.

They went into one of the bedrooms that had a queen-size bed each, but Peter just looked at it disappointed. Wade sat down on it, smiling. “It's really soft, you will like it.” He insured and then they started to arrange a little nest for Peter. They took pillows and blankets from the other bedrooms and piled them up. It looked like a mess to Wade, but when they were finished Peter seemed pleased and that was what really mattered. He got himself dressed and ready to sleep in the bathroom, before crawling into the various layers of blankets and pillows curling up like a little child. Wade smiled softly and when he was sure that Peter was asleep he kissed his forehead and said “Good night, baby boy.”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For 不辣酱 who had demanded a beach-chapter and for littlebirdy3tweet, who loved the idea! (ﾉ´ヮ´)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧
> 
> ((Also for Chantilly I guess - it's not a very long chapter, but I think it is the longest yet so that's something?))
> 
> Have a nice day, all of you! 
> 
> \- CC


	8. Chapter 8

Wade was going back and forth in front of his telephone, waiting for someone “special” to call him. It was nerve-racking, because he knew that he couldn't do anything to fasten the process, he couldn't do anything but to wait and wait and wait and worry. “What, if they don't want me?” He asked himself aloud. Peter who was sitting on the couch, reading one of his many books mumbled something in response, but it was to quiet to understand. “I mean I've been a good merc!” He exclaimed dramatically. “I have the skill _and_ the looks! Right Petey?” The boy hummed in approval. “Hah! _You_ would tell them, right baby boy? How _amazing_ I am!” That made the teen look up curiously. “- Sadly that's never going to happen.” Wade added fast. “Because you're not going to meet them.” He stressed. Peter frowned at him a little, before continuing to read. “Hey.. no need to give me that look, sweetums.. It's just that.. you know for a little spider like you.. they can be very dangerous..” He tried to explain. Peter looked quite glum nonetheless, but before Wade could go to him, pull him into a hug and cuddle the sad look on his face away his phone started to ring, making him jump up a little. He instantly answered the call.

“Merc. Billionaire. Dead. Pool. How can I assist you?” He said in a husky voice, trying to conceal how nervous he actually felt.

“It is me, Wade. Coulson. I've talked with Fury about the thing you asked me.”

“Why, agent Coulson! What a _surprise_! Haven't thought you would call back so quickly – it seems like Fury is in desperate need of a man like me, huh?”

“Well.. that might be a little exaggerated, but we all know of your capabilities and if you would be able to stick to some basic rules..”

“Pah! Sure! No killing, listening to direct orders, no chewing gum during briefings..” He heard a faint sigh at the other side of the line.

“Right. As I said: Simple rules. We can not make you a full member yet, but Fury got a few missions for you, if you do good we will take you in.”

“Sweet!” Wade exclaimed triumphantly.

They then discussed the details of Wade's first mission and after Coulson had hung up, Wade actually took his time to celebrate with a little victory dance. He noticed Peter looking at him with a soft smile, when he had finished and cleared his throat a little awkwardly. “Looks like you don't have to start worrying about me getting a proper job anymore.” Not that Peter did, he was pretty oblivious to material things and money after all. Wade just loved to spoil the kid and even though he still had billions on his account overseas he wanted to stay on the safe side. That's why he had decided to turn to S.H.I.E.L.D asking for a job with a regulated income, instead of being a gun for hire. Somehow Peter made him want to settle down.

 

A few days later however Wade found himself turned into a nervous wreck. “What if I mess up? God, they would never talk to me again!” He was putting on his Deadpool costume and somehow it felt really weird to wear it again after such a long time. The spandex pinched a little and it smelled funny. He had never noticed it before, but now that he was living with Peter, trying to contain some hygiene it was quite unpleasing. He would have to wash his suit after the job or – even better! - burn it and buy another one. He made a mental note, put on the mask and went out of his bedroom. As always Peter was reading on the couch, it had became _his_ place.

He looked so absorbed in the story, such a frail and tender being and .. is that blood?! Wade rushed to his side, cupping the boys face in terror, while Peter looked up to him in confusion. “What..?” He asked startled. Wade slowly moved to stroke away the small streak of blood dripping out of Peter's nose, the boy sniffed in surprise, while Wade's mind started to run wild. “Are you sick, Peter? Do you feel unwell?” He demanded to know nervously, putting his hand on the other's forehead to check his temperature. “You don't seem to have a fever, but I _can't_ let you stay alone! I.. I will call Coulson and cancel the mission.” He exclaimed almost panicking, making Peter chuckle. “I'm fine.” He assured in the sweetest voice. “But..!” Wade tried to interject. “You afraid.. of job?” Peter asked with a knowing smile. “I.. n-no! That's not it, Peter! I' just _worry_ about you!” The merc whined, but Peter shook his head. “You go.” He declared nodding and he looked at Wade with so much determination that he had to give in. “Fine.. good.. but if I get home to you dying I will laugh at you!” Wade pouted, making Peter laugh. It was such a clear, melodic sound that it made Wade relax immediately. “Okay.”

“But you have to call me when you start to feel sick or anything! And if you get hungry there is enough food in the fridge, you just have to heat it up – you sure you know how to use the microwave? I can show you once more, before I go!” Peter rolled his eyes at his overprotective roommate and pushed him towards the window, so he would finally go and do whatever he was supposed to do and in the end Peter won, because Wade sighed in defeat and climbed out.

 

The mission itself was easy. It really was, even though Wade couldn't stop thinking about Peter and how he was doing and how Wade would react if he came home only to find out that his little baby boy had killed himself by accident, probably by setting the apartment on fire with his laser-eyes that he somehow hadn't noticed before. Seriously, there was just so many things that could go horribly wrong, hell, Wade even knew of a kid that had accidentally suffocated himself while brushing his teeth! It was a dangerous world. Oh, and of course if he could stop thinking about Peter and his inevitable tragic death he thought about all the things he could do to screw up the mission.

He was incredibly silent, but it was a mission that required stealth after all. It probably was some kind of test to see if Wade was physically able to shut up when it counted, to use his brain and his sick ninja moves instead of just wracking havoc. So the maybe-not-longer-merc-merc crawled through the ventilation shafts of the fancy facility he had to intrude until he finally was just above the desk of the big boss of that gang. He opened the air vent as quiet as possible and lowered himself into the dark and empty room. He waited a second, but there was no alarm going off so he hurried to bug the guys telephone, the desk and a pretty ornamental plant that was standing close to the door before vanishing again, not leaving any hints of his little visit. He then proceeded to get home as fast as he could, calling Coulson while he was doing so to inform him that the mission had been a complete success. The agent congratulated him and told him, that he would call in a few days to discuss Wade's next job.

As Wade climbed up the outer wall of the apartment complex he already braced himself for the worst, but when he jumped through the open window all he saw was a perfectly fine Peter, sitting on his place on the couch, book in hand, first confused then smiling. Wade sighed dramatically. “Phew! You're still alive!” He exclaimed, while taking off his mask. “I hope it wasn't too bad though? Being on your own? You know it might happen more often now, if you are not ready I can ..” “Time.” Peter interrupted him. The older man blinked in confusion until Peter started to point at the watch hanging on the wall. “Oh..” He said. Wade had been away for merely half an hour. “I.. guess I shouldn't have worried that much?” He asked rubbing his neck. Peter nodded. And so it was set, Wade would go on missions more frequently from now on.

At first it had been a little hard to leave Peter, but he soon realized that the kid was fine even when a mission would take a few days to finish. “Kids..” Wade thought to himself. “They grow up so damn fast.”

 

Everything had been fine for a while, put after a rough mission Wade came home to Peter with various bullet wounds and his suit and skin sliced to ribbons. In addition to that Wade had even lost his left arm, which had made climbing up to his window really tricky. Luckily he had found his arm after the battle so he could try to reattach it, but when he finally let himself fall on the floor of the living room he just wanted to lay still for a few hours, maybe blacking out so he wouldn't have to feel all the pain he was currently in.

He of course didn't notice the horrified look Peter was giving him from his spot on the couch, but as soon as the teen rushed to his side kneeling next to him he became aware of the impression he probably made on the boy. “Ugh.. it's okay Peter.. just some scratches..” He managed to say, but of course the teen was to smart to believe him. The first thing the boy did was trying to attach the arm back to Wade's shoulder, using his webbing as some kind of bandage to hold the arm in place while it was reattaching itself. Wade smiled, grateful for the aid, but he didn't want Peter to bother with him. “Thanks, baby boy..” He said softly. “Just like.. help me into the bathroom so I can take a bath, then I'll be alright, good?” Peter just nodded cautiously, but instead of just helping Wade to walk to the bathroom, he actually carried him there on his back. Wade was sure that he would blush if he would have enough blood in his veins, but he had to admit that his body being pressed against Peter's by the might of gravity was a wonderful feeling. The former spider then helped the merc into the bathtub and turned on the water. “Okay, Peter.. I can manage on my own from here on, really.” But as every other teen, Peter wouldn't listen to his guardian, instead he went through the bottles of shampoo and bath cream. Wade sighed. “The aloe vera one.” Peter shot him a short smile and put some of the gel inside the water, while applying some of it on Wade's wounds. The merc hissed at the pain it brought, but he gestured Peter to continue.

After the tub was filled, Wade stripped off the rest of his costume and his skin treated he told Peter once again that he was fine and that he could leave him on his own now and that “Who is overprotective now?” Peter just stayed with him, sitting next to the tub, resting his head on it's edge. They didn't speak, Wade because he was actually quite tired and Peter, because he just wasn't that talkative to begin with. The silence wasn't unpleasing though, it was nice actually – peaceful. Wade felt.. _safe_ and .. _loved?_ It was a strange feeling, but he did not want the moment to end ever again.

“Wade?” Peter asked quietly. The merc hummed in response, indicating that he was awake, even though he had closed his eyes a long time ago. “You a hero?” The boy asked almost shyly. That question actually made Wade open his eyes, looking at Peter as if he had heard wrong. “Like Cap, I mean.” The boy tried to explain. Wade had to think about that for a moment. Not because he was unsure if he was a hero or not – he definitely wasn't, but something in Peter's voice had sounded so hopeful and he did not want to let the boy down. It was a silly though, considering that he met Peter because of one of his mercenary jobs. “No, Peter.. I am not a hero..” He finally said, unable to lie to the doe-eyed teen. “But I try hard to become one, someday..” Wade looked at Peter, prepared to see him being disappointed, but the look an his face was hard to decipher. In fact, Wade felt like there was something sparkling in those big, hazel eyes and if he wouldn't know otherwise, he would say that it was admiration.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ((- Wow, Citrus, that chapter is long!  
> \- I know CC, I actually feel like a productive member of society!))
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed the chapter; I think it came out quite good? What do you think? (ﾉ´ヮ´)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧
> 
> \- CC


	9. Chapter 9

Thanks to his healing factor Wade was as good as new a few hours later. The merc was used to it and for him it was perfectly normal to go on another mission just a few days later. Peter however seemed to think otherwise.

“No.” He claimed frustrated, arms folded in front of his chest.

“Peter, I'm _fine_. I'm not made out of porcelain.” The merc tried to explain. Normally when Peter would have asked him to stay at home, he would do it for him, but obviously the only reason Peter wanted Wade to stay was that he thought the merc was still somewhat chipped, which he totally wasn't.

“You _hurt_!” Peter told him with a pleading voice.

“No, I don't. I'm completely healed up again, see? Nothing hurts anymore.” Wade tried to convince Peter by pinching himself in various places, but that only earned him a frustrated growl, which was odd, because Peter hadn't used these animalistic sounds in a while.

“But you.. get hurt!” The boy corrected himself.

Wade blinked baffled. “You worry about me.” He noticed quietly as he felt a warmth growing in his chest. The boy looked down, seeming so sad and forlorn that Wade reached out his hand to cup Peter's face instantly. He made the teen look at him again and started to stroke through his messy brown hair. “Yes, Peter, I will get hurt, but that's okay. See, I can heal – but others can't and if I want to be a superhero like Cap I have to use my abilities to help these people, don't you agree?” Of course he did and even if he didn't want to admit Peter nodded slightly, biting his lip, because he knew that he had lost the argument. “That's why I have to go on these jobs, even if it means that I will get hurt sometimes and now stop looking so gloomy, you look a lot more beautiful with a smile on your face.” He grinned and ruffled through Peter's hair, making the boy laugh and swat away Wade's hand in a playful manner. “Way better!”

Wade turned to the window, putting on his mask and going checking up his weapons one more time, but Peter interrupted him once again, tugging at his arm and looking up to him with a gleaming smile. “I come with you!” He exclaimed happily as if it was the best idea he ever had.

“What? No, no, no, no, no, Peter! No way!” Wade blurted out in surprise, making a frown appear on the teen's face.

“But I can help!” He interjected.

“Pete, remember when I told you that some people - _like me_ \- can heal and others - _like you_ \- cannot? That was like.. five minutes ago?”

“But I'm fast! And.. reflexes! And I climb!”

“Yes, you are an amazing human sticky-note, I know – but can you wield a weapon? Can you actually _fight_? Peter, I've trained _my whole life_ , while you have been nothing but a spider for the biggest time of yours!”

Peter shot him an angry gaze and turned his back on the merc obviously offended.

“Look, Peter I just don't want you to get hurt, okay?” Wade said in a softer tone, put when he tried to pat the boys shoulder he shrugged his hand away from him. The merc sighed. He would prefer to talk that out first, but he had a mission to attend to and was already late so there was no time for that plus Peter was being unreasonable and probably wouldn't listen anyway. “I'll be back in a few hours – be a good boy, alright Pete?” But the teen didn't react, giving him the could shoulder. Wade frowned, but left nonetheless.

 

It was of course foreseeable that Wade would not be able to concentrate on the mission after such a 'fight' with Peter. Sure they had some struggles throughout their relationship, but they had never had such a dispute before and Peter had never been so cold to Wade either. It was probably because Peter just wanted to do good, heck he just wanted to _help_ Wade, but he would just end up getting hurt and that was something Wade wanted to avoid. He had lost a fair share of people during his life and he would not let Peter become one of them. Even though he knew that that was something inevitable, but that didn't mean that he wouldn't make sure that Peter could live a long and happy life by his side.

Lost in thoughts as he was Wade didn't notice he triggered a silent alarm while breaking into the facility he was supposed to rob. He made his way to a storage room without too much of a hassle as there were only a few night guards that were easy to knock out and rummaged through various documents until he found the ones S.H.I.E.L.D was interested in. He quickly scanned them, before putting them back and left as fast as possible. When he made his way out of the main building however he was promptly greeted with various machine guns firing at him.

Surprised by the sudden increase in well equipped guards he barely managed to dodge the bullets, diving behind a conveniently placed container. He unsheathed his katanas and moved to fight back. Wade whirled them around precisely enough to divert the bullets coming his way, but one of the guards used another weapon – a kusarigama, basically a sickle attached to a long iron chain. The chain whipped around him before he could react and wrapped around his upper body, binding both of his arms to his body. Without being able to protect himself countless bullets ripped through his flesh, but it soon stopped and before he could manage to free himself one of the attackers tackled him down and rammed the sharp blade of the kusarigama into his chest, through one of the links of the chain so Wade would stay immobilized. Wade struggled with the attacker that was basically lying on him and managed to kick him so hard that he actually fainted. Wade rolled over, trying to take cover again, which he was able to, because the other guards wouldn't fire to prevent to shoot the knocked out man lying on the floor. Wade cursed under his breath and struggled a moment to activate his com link by banging his head against the container he was once again hiding behind.

“Deadpool, what is wrong?” It was Steve.

“ _Ouch_ – shit – Steve, listen. Things went dow- _ow_ -n the drain here and I could really use some _ah_ back- _ouch_.”

And as soon as he had managed to say that he already heard the guards that were surrounding him start shouting and shooting.

“Wow, Cap – you guys are _fast_ , I'm impressed!” The merc exclaimed in honest astonishment.

“Wade, whatever is happening over there, it is not because of us. No S.H.I.E.L.D member is around.”

The merc cursed under his breath and took a peek at the new arrival.

“ _Shit.!_ ”

“Wade what happened? Who's there?”

“Erm..” Wade stammered as he watched a person with a Deadpool costume that was way too big and baggy fight the guards single-handedly and with ease. “Uh.. it's a friend of mine actually.. erm.. he uh.. he already took care of my problem – no need to worry.” And with that said Wade banged his head against the container one more time to cancel the call.

Just a few moments later Peter was by his side, while the enemies were either unconscious or webbed to the ground (or to each other) or both. He took of the Deadpool-mask and looked at Wade worrying, kneeling down next to the bleeding merc unsure whether to pull out the blade in his chest or not. The teen looked up at him through his lashes, confused, worried and in fear but Wade just pouted and turned his head away. “I'm not going to let you help me this time, because you broke my rule and followed me!” He said huffily, before looking at Peter out of the corners of his eyes awaiting the boys reaction to his “punishment” just to see big, round tears welling up in those beautiful, hazel eyes while the boy's face twisted in pain. “H-hey, baby boy..” Wade whispered softly already regretting the harsh words, but now Peter just sobbed and started crying heartrending, his whole body trembling. Wade instantly moved to put his arms around him to try to soothe him, but they were still tied up and so he could only watch Peter lean his forehead against Wade's shoulder and continuing to cry. The merc tried his best, gently rocking back and forth, whispering calmly into Peter's ear, gently kissing the top of his head and nuzzling his hair, but it took a long while for Peter to calm down. “You hurt.” He simply said, then he pulled out the blade of the kusarigama so Wade could finally pull him into a tight hug, stroking his back reassuringly saying “I'm sorry.” over and over again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We reached over 2000 hits! Thank you all for your support you are so awesome! (*≧∀≦*)
> 
> I'm going to share a fun fact with you:  
> Most of the time I write (and upload) the chapters right before going to sleep so when I wake up in the morning I can see all your lovely comments and the increasing amount of kudos and hits - it almost feels like christmas eve all over again （*´▽｀*）
> 
> Have a wonderful day my fellow spideypoolers, you are a bunch of amazingly wonderful people that make me blush and smile like some japanese-schoolgirl! 
> 
> \- CC


	10. Chapter 10

After that incident it obviously became impossible for Wade to get Peter to stay at home while he was on a mission. He had tried everything – talking, locking the boy in the apartment, hell he had even put some sleeping pills in the boys taco just to prevent him from coming along. The pills were the only thing that had worked, but afterwards Peter was _so_ pissed that he had refused to talk to Wade until he had finally agreed that Peter could help him on his missions.

The thing is that Peter was right. He had shown Wade multiple times that he was more then capable of defending not only himself, but the two of them – sure he still didn't know how to use a weapon, but all those Kung-fu-movies they had watched had given him a pretty good idea of how to fight and then there were his webs, which enabled him to do some really crazy moves. Wade had to admit; he was amazed by Peter's abilities and they actually made quite a decent team.

 

So the first thing Wade did, was to order a suit for Peter, because the boy couldn't run around in one of the Deadpool suits that were way too big for him. He had told his tailor that he wanted something inspired by his Deadpool outfit, just with some spider-theme. He probably shouldn't have called while eating though, because instead of red and black the suit was red and blue, which Wade found to look a little too colorful, but Peter liked it so they kept it. Wade had even thought of the webs and so there were small holes in the gloves.

When he saw his baby boy in-suit for the first time, right before a mission Wade wondered why the hell he had agreed to all of this, but then Peter hugged him in his excitement, thanking him, while he nestled against the taller man's chest, nothing between them but two thin layers of spandex.

 

The two of them went on missions every now and then and patrolled through the city every night, but Wade kept Peter a secret from S.H.I.E.L.D.. He didn't want them to intervene, to ask questions about who his new, awesome side-kick was and even though rumors started to spread about him teaming up with some unknown guy he denied everything. Sure he was a S.H.I.E.L.D member now, but he didn't trust them – not when it came to Peter. For Peter himself that was somewhat hard to understand, because he thought that Wade just didn't want to introduce him to his friends for whatever reason he had.

 

Everything had been fine until one time some green guy on a flying ironing board had shown up. He was a pretty lame super-villain and soon Deadpool and Spidey had shown him his place, but unfortunately he managed to escape them and since then he was always on their backs, he was more of an annoyance then anything else, though.

Today was not different.

They had chased him down to the Brooklyn bridge after he had attacked them while they were on patrol. While Wade was jumping from car roof to car roof, Peter was swinging close behind the man that called himself the 'Green Goblin'. As almost everyday there was a big traffic jam, which made things a little easier for Wade, but it also caused some people to leave their cars to look at what was happening around them. As the Goblin flew past them just inches above the bystanders heads he suddenly reached out, grabbed one of them by the arm and picked her up before flying to the top of one of the pillars. Of course Peter followed him instantly, jumping and crawling his way up, but Wade cursed, because he wouldn't be able to be a part of the action. He could only watch them while running towards them. There was a small fight, with the Goblin throwing his explosives at Peter, but the boy was way to fast and evaded them easily, he then proceeded to tackle down the Goblin, but just when he was able to grab him the guy let go his hostage, making her fall all the way down. Peter who had his priorities set pushed the villain away to shoot a web at the screaming girl, catching her mid-fall. It gave the Goblin enough time to escape once again so Peter just moved to release the girl from his web.

By the time Wade reached the two of them there were already a couple of people surrounding them, taking photos or just staring.

Peter was carrying her bridal style, looking a little lost, because the girl was unconscious and he had no idea how to deal with that. “You okay, baby boy?” Wade asked when he finally stood in front of him. Peter nodded. The older man took a look at the girl his roommate was carrying. She was quite a pretty thing, blond hair a little pale maybe and checked her pulse to ensure that everything was okay. “She's dead.” He whispered in a low voice, which seemed to startle Peter. He looked at the body in his arms confused and shook her a little, making her head fall into an unnatural position. “Shit. Okay, we can't help her, just lay her down – we should get away.” Wade ordered, nervously looking at a guy who was still taking photos. Peter did as he was told and after he had laid her down, Wade took his hand and started running.

 

When they finally were back in their apartment Wade started to actually worry about Peter, since it was the first time an innocent died while he was present, but the boy seemed to act as if nothing had happened and simply started to read a book. Wade sat next to him, trying to find out how the boy was doing. “So.. uh.. how do you feel about what happened today?” He asked cautiously. Peter looked up to him and shrugged. “He got away.” Wade frowned. “Yeah, but.. I mean the girl – she died.” “What do you mean “died”?” Peter blurted out confused making Wade go pale.

The merc had taught the former spider so much – talking, reading, getting dressed, how to use the microwave, but of course the one thing he couldn't teach him was the one thing he himself couldn't do. Sure, Peter had heard about death on the news, he had read about it many times, but maybe seeing Wade who simply healed up after a deadly injury he believed 'death' to be nothing but a fairytale.

“What does it mean?” He demanded to know once again.

“Ugh.. uhm.. you see..” Wade tried to think about a way to explain the whole matter to him, which was really hard. “Sometimes.. sometimes human bodies just stop working, maybe because some of their internal parts got injured or simply because they are very old..”

“Then why don't fix them again?”

“Eh.. mhm.. that's not always possible, Peter. Sometimes you just can't safe their lives anymore.” Peter nodded and Wade was glad that he seemed to understand.

“So why did the girl die?”

Great, this was getting better and better. Wade swallowed hard.

“Seemed like she broke her neck.. it damaged some nerves that people need to live..”

“But I saved her. The Goblin didn't do anything.” He pouted.

“Err.. well.. Pete.. it's..”

“Why?” He looked at him frustrated.

“It had something to do with you webbing her probably..” Wade said softly, but Peter just stared at him in disbelief.

“It was my fault?”

“No, Peter, no..” He tried to calm him, but when he reached out to pat his shoulder the boy jumped up and started pacing up and down, obviously unnerved. “Peter you did your best – you tried anything, but that's just how it is.. sometimes it's not enough..” Wade explained, standing up. He wanted to hug Peter but the boy pushed him away shaking his head.

“ _I killed her._ ” He sobbed, tears starting to fall from his cheeks once again, then he turned around and hid away in his spider-web, leaving Wade cursing and hating himself.

Even a week later Peter was still unresponsive, hiding in his orb of web, eating barely not even reading. Wade was worried and helpless, because no matter what he did or what he said Peter wouldn't even answer with a growl or anything. He had shouted, he had pleaded and at some point he had given up. S.H.I.E.L.D was still bugging him about his new side-kick, especially after they had seen the photos from the other day and Wade thought that maybe it was a good idea to tell them everything now. Maybe all Peter needed now was some prep talk from Cap or the other heroes.


	11. Chapter 11

“Wade – _simple rules_. All we want to know is who the kid is you've been working with and why he killed that girl.” Agent Coulson told him calmly. He as well as the Avengers and Fury looked at him expectantly, waiting for an answer. Wade fidgeted nervously in his seat. He was torn whether to tell them the truth or a lie or something in between and finally as the staring became to intense to bear anymore he settled for the truth – at least a creative form of it.

“Oh well.. I.. uh.. “ _found_ ” the kid while-” He started.

“Wait? What do you mean by “found”? Tony interrupted promptly, looking anything but amused.

“Err.. like.. I never meant to meet him or anything.. it just sort of.. happened?” Tony, Steve and Coulson sighed simultaneously. “So.. as I said; I found him during a mission and since he couldn't really remember anything..”

“You thought that taking him home with you was the best idea? Instead of.. bringing him to the police? Or the hospital?” Stark asked in a sarcastic manner.

“Well.. when you put it _that_ way..”

“Wilson.” Fury growled. “I think what Stark means is that we don't believe you anything.”

“Oh..” Wade deflated.

“Wade we have to be able to trust you and we can't do that, when your hiding something like that from us.” Steve said with a frown and he looked at Wade with so much disappointment that the merc couldn't help but to finally spill it out.

“Okay.. okay.. I.. I'm just..” He rubbed his forehead. “He's a good boy and I don't want him to get into any kind of.. trouble..”

“And you think killing a girl isn't trouble?” Tony snarled.

“He _did not_ kill her dammit! It was an _accident_.”

It was silent in the room for a few moments, but then Cap raised his voice.

“Wade. Is that person the same boy I've met at the zoo?” He asked seriously.

“You know..?”

“I've seen him with you.”

Wade hesitated. “Yes.. yes, that was him.” He admitted.

Steve took in a deep breath. “Then let me meet him again, he seemed like a nice kid. We would just talk a little so I can be sure he's alright.”

“That.. you would do that?”

“Yes, no problem.” Steve exclaimed before Tony had the chance to interrupt.

Wade nodded still a little surprised, but thankful.

 

By the time Wade was opening the door to his apartment for Steve he wasn't all that optimistic anymore. Instead he feared Cap's reaction to the former spider.

“Wow, it's cleaner in here as -” Steve stopped as he saw the giant spider-web, looking at Wade as if he was kidding him. “This..” He gestured towards Peter's lair. “He.. made it?”

“Yeah.. it's uh.. his little spider-cave, you know? He sleeps in there and everything, but since that little incident on the bridge he won't leave at all.” Wade explained to a shocked Captain America.

“Does he.. have a name?” He asked.

“Ah, yeah.. it's Peter.”

Cap nodded and looked at the web again, approaching it slowly, trying to look inside. “Peter? It's me, Steve. You want to talk a little buddy?” He exclaimed cheerfully, but as always there was no reaction. Wade just watched Cap, hoping that he could lure Peter out of his hiding place. “Your friend Wade told me what happened a few days ago on that bridge and that you feel guilty about it.” And then he went on talking about how he felt, when he wasn't able to safe someone and how it felt to loose his best friend Bucky, without being able to do anything. He revealed all those demons he had been carrying around and it made even Wade sniff. It was simply heartbreaking, but then he told Peter why he never gave up, while he had to stand up again, because of his responsibility, because there were other people that needed him and when he was finished there actually was movement in the net.

Peter slowly crawled out of his lair, he looked so tired and vulnerable that Wade had to hold back himself to not instantly hug and kiss him okay. Steve however just smiled softly, patting the boy's head before pulling him into a hug. “You are a great kid, Peter.” He said encouragingly. “And me and Wade are just here to help you.”

 

They hadn't really talked after that. Steve had tried to get to know Peter a little bit, but the boy never answered any of his questions. Before he left Steve told Wade that he would talk to Fury about making Peter a S.H.I.E.L.D member, training him, stuff like that. And after he was gone he and Peter spend the rest of the day cuddling and holding each other on the couch, watching sappy movies that made them both cry.

 

Soon after that Peter was back to his normal, cheerful self and one night when they patrolled together they had met the other Avengers.

“Let me guess: You got your powers when you were bitten by a radioactive spider?” Tony teased.

“I'm sure that's not how radioactivity works.” Banner had interjected and somehow this started some heated science debate between the two Avengers and when Peter suddenly interfered, giving his opinion on the matter they were astonished that anyone else was actually able to follow their conversation. That set the base for a beautiful science-nerd-friendship.

 

Some other day Tony invited them over to the tower, mostly because he wanted to brag about his cool labs. Peter was of course totally into it, but then Black Widow and Hawkeye wanted to spare with him. The real spider won with ease, but the Avengers showed him a few flaws in his positioning and in the end he and Natasha teamed up against Hawkeye. Wade felt a little left out, but when he saw how much Peter enjoyed the time with the other Avengers he tried to be happy for him. It was hard though. All this time he had been the one and only in Peter's life, hell he was probably the only reason that he had turned into a human to begin with and now seeing him growing more and more independent broke his heart.

 

His sorrow soon turned into frustration and anger, but instead of telling Peter how he felt and why he just started to argue with him over everything, which ended up in Peter distancing himself from Wade even more. In the end they stopped talking to each other and started to go on patrol alone. Wade was so angry that he never even noticed that something was wrong with the former spider, but someday he decided that it couldn't go on like this anymore, they had to talk it out and get along again, because in the end Wade just really missed his baby boy. So one night he did not go on patrol and instead waited for Peter to come home from his. It wasn't until early in the morning that he finally heard the young hero climbing up the wall to the apartment window. When Wade looked at Peter – really looked  at him - for the first time in days he noticed how thin the boy had become. Wade frowned and stepped into Peter's way as he moved to the bathroom for a well earned warm bath. “Peter, we need to talk..” Wade said with a frown, but the teen just ignored him and walked past the merc into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. “Peter, I just want to apologize!” Wade pleaded from the other side of the door, knocking gently.“Let me in, please - baby boy. I know that I've been a dump, egoistic idiot and I'm sorry!”

It was silent for a few minutes, but then Peter finally opened the door. He had changed his clothes and looked at Wade tiredly. “I'm sorry, Peter.” Wade said in a small voice. The boy gave him a gentle smile and leaned in against Wade. The merc put his arms around him, stroking his back gently. He hesitated a little before kissing his forehead.

“Whoa Peter, you are rushing a fever.” He noticed shocked, the boy just shrugging it off. Wade stroke through his hair and picked the boy up carrying him into his bedroom. “You've been probably pushing yourself to hard.. but don't worry, I will take good care of you.” He promised. He laid the boy on his bed, arranging pillows and blankets the way he liked it most and when he was finished and all tugged in Wade noticed that Peter was fast asleep, a thin streak of blood dripping from his nose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ha! You probably thought there would be only one chapter today - well, think again! Ψ(｀▽´)Ψ
> 
> This fic is now my longest fanfiction (by word count) EVER - so yeah, that's why 2 chapters (plus I had nothing to do and just was SO bored ヽ(´□｀。)ﾉ)  
> I hope you enjoyed! Looking at you Grinedel! 
> 
> Aaaand I wanted to say that I have tumblr now - there won't be anything new or amazing, but maybe some of you guys want to chat a little? I dunno.. 
> 
> http://citruscats.tumblr.com/
> 
> \- CC


	12. Chapter 12

Wade quietly opened the door to the bedroom, peeking inside. Peter was still lying there, sleeping peacefully his cheeks slightly red. He went in, carrying a cup of tea he just made, silently approaching the bed, before he sat down next to the young hero. The merc gently stroked a few strands of hair out of the boy's face to put his hand on the other's forehead. The fever still drained the former spider, making Wade frown. He caressed the boy's cheek a little until he stirred awake slowly. The teen blinked, trying to orient.

“Hey there, baby boy. How about some tea?” Wade asked smiling, but Peter just growled groggily before pressing his face in the pillow again.

“Come on, you need to keep hydrated.” He sighed. “You can continue sleeping after taking a sip.” Peter pried open one eye to look at Wade, but then slowly started to sit up. The boy seemed so sleepy and dizzy however that he could barely keep himself upright so he leaned onto Wade for some support. The merc put an arm around him, holding him tight, then he held the cup to his lips to help him drink. Peter took a cautious sip, but flinched a little, when he swallowed it down, making him cough a little. Wade put away the cup and gently patted the boy's back, but instead of making it better Peter just coughed even more.

“Pete, you okay?..” He asked worried, watching the scrawny boy's frame twitch more and more violently. Suddenly Peter grabbed his throat as if he was suffocating, bending over as he did. Wade just watched unable to do anything else in his shock, when Peter held a hand before his mouth and spilled out so much blood that it squirted out in between his fingers. He slumped against Wade, who gathered him in his arms, cradling him gently while trying to make out what the hell just had happened. He swallowed hard as he saw the scarlet blood on the pale, almost greyish looking skin. “Peter? _Shit_. Come on, come on, comeon,..” He pleaded, but the boy in his arms was barely conscious anymore. Closing and opening his eyes as if staying awake demanded all his strength, while his whole body was shivering slightly. Wade grabbed a blanket from the bed and wrapped it around his roommate, cursing under his breath. He knew that Peter needed help, but then someone would figure out who he was, _what_ he was that could lead to horrendous events, but Wade had no choice – he had to take Peter to the Avengers Tower, Bruce sure would be able to help him, but at first Wade had to tell them the truth, so he pulled out his mobile and called Tony's emergency number.

“Wade, this is an _emergency number_ and I already told you that running out of taco's was _not_ an emergency.” Stark growled.

“I could feel offended by that but I'm too happy to hear your voice right now so listen I got to.. uh.. tell you something, it's important..”

“I don't have time to listen to your stories, Wade!”

“But it's an _emergency_.”

“Fine, good. I'll listen, but if it's not-”

“Yes! Just let me start already. Okay so here we go. Imagine an incredibly good looking merc breaking into Oscorp, stealing a genetically altered spider from one of their labs.”

“Wade-”

“No, listen! Okay so the merc get's home forgets about the spider and – puff! - it turns into a teenage boy!”

“Wait, are you just telling me-”

“Everything was fine, they had a lot of fun, they went to the zoo and to the beach and they became superhero-partners, but then something happened to the spider-kid and he rushed a fever and started to cough up blood and oh god, Stark I think he might be _dying_ , just.. just help him!” Wade cried out. It was silent for a few seconds, but when he answered Tony sounded serious.

“Just hold on for a few more minutes, okay? I'll send Happy, he will take you to the tower and I'll call Bruce so when you get here we will look into it, alright?”

Wade nodded, but when he realized Tony couldn't hear that he hummed slightly. He looked down at Peter, who tried to curl up in his laps, reminding him of a spider that curled up upon death. Wade suddenly felt sick. “No, baby boy, come on.. stay with me..” He pleaded holding him even closer.

 

Minutes felt like hours and by the time Happy finally arrived in front of their apartment Wade was trembling as much as Peter was, he carried him into the car and lost his nerves every time they were stopped by a red light or someone taking their right of way. It was terrible. When they finally arrived at the tower Wade basically jumped out of the car with Peter in his arms, running straight to one of the elevators, Stark's AI already rambling about something.

Wade remembered laying Peter on a bed a little later and then Tony and Bruce took him away, but everything that happened after that was a blur. He had paced down the hallway most of the time, until the door that kept him away from Peter finally opened up. It was Tony who called him over, Wade tried to decipher the look on his face, preparing himself for the worst.

“Don't worry, he'll be alright.” Tony simply said and those words actually made Wade want to laugh, because he suddenly felt so relieved, but then he saw Peter and the urge to laugh died away instantly. He rushed to his side. Peter was lying in a bed, an IV and other stuff attached to his frail body and he didn't look better _at all_. Wade looked up to Banner and Stark almost screaming, because he thought that this all was just a really, really cruel joke, but the scientist's felt his dread and instantly tried to calm him.

“It's okay Wade, we figured out what was wrong – all we need to do is to synthesize a cure.” Tony explained.

“Cure? What's wrong with him?” Wade was so frustrated he almost cried, but he bit his lip and tried to hold back the tears.

“The thing is, that Peter probably wasn't supposed to turn human.. when he did. The scientist's that had worked on him just weren't finished yet, resulting in his body being rather.. unstable, which causes constant damage to his DNA. It's a normal thing actually, but in his case it's too massive to heal up completely – at least on his own.”

“So he just.. falls apart, from inside?”

“Yes, I guess you could put it like that, but as I said we are working on something that will stabilize him. Some kind of serum that he will have to inject every now and then.”

Wade nodded slowly, rubbing his forehead, then he made sure that Peter was lying comfortable, shifting him around carefully, rearranging the pillows a little – just the way the boy liked it the most.

Banner and Stark left the room after that to go into one of their many labs.

“I think you should have told him.” Bruce finally said.

“Haven't you seen him?” Tony asked. “He needed to hear something positive.”

“Tony we both like the boy as well – we can't just.. deny it.”

“We _do not_ deny _anything_ , Bruce. We are just being optimistic, okay? Just let us make that serum and everything will be fine.”

“You know-”

“ _Enough_. Less talking more life saving.”


End file.
